March Home Sales in Polk Highest Since 2006; Values Also See Growth

Local home sales were at a seven-year high in March while state and national sales also continued to show signs of a market recovery.

By KYLE KENNEDY & KEVIN BOUFFARDTHE LEDGER

LAKELAND | Local home sales were at a seven-year high in March while state and national sales also continued to show signs of a market recovery.A total 574 existing homes were sold in Polk County last month, up 20.6 percent from 476 homes the year prior, according to the My Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service. It was the area's highest monthly sum since March 2006, when 592 homes were sold.Last month's total compared with 464 homes sold in February, a 23.7 percent increase.Polk home values also saw growth. The median sale price for March, $121,000, was up 18 percent from $102,500 last year, according to Home Encounter, a Tampa-based real estate firm.Statewide, sales grew 9 percent to 19,631 single-family homes sold last month compared with 18,003 such homes sold in March 2012, according to FloridaRealtors. The median sales price jumped 15 percent to $160,000 from $138,900 from a year earlier."Florida's housing market continues to demonstrate its recovery," said Florida Realtors President Dean Asher of Don Asher & Associates Inc. in Orlando. "March marks the 15th consecutive month that the statewide median sales prices for both single-family homes and for townhouse-condo properties rose year-over-year."The U.S. performance in March landed between the state and national figures with existing home sales increasing 10.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted 4.9 million homes compared to 4.46 million such homes sold in March 2012, according to the National Association of Realtors. That marked the 21st consecutive month of year-to-year gains.The national median price for all existing homes in March rose to $184,300, nearly 12 percent higher than the median price a year earlier, the national association reported."Buyer traffic is 25 percent above a year ago, when we were already seeing notable gains in shopping activity," said Lawrence Yun, the association's chief economist. "In the same time frame, housing inventories have trended much lower, which is continuing to pressure home prices."Though sales activity has been brisk, Polk has a shrinking inventory of unsold homes.Real estate observers have said inventories are falling because of a tight supply of distressed properties and stiff competition among buyers and investors. In addition, many homeowners simply don't have the equity to sell their homes."We need inventory. We get excited every time we get a new listing or appointment," said Shawn McDonough, a broker associate with Exit Realty in Lakeland. "It's been a real struggle to find homes for all of the buyers out there." Both Lakeland and East Polk had roughly four months worth of unsold home inventory at March's sales pace, indicative of a seller's market.Lakeland had 269 homes sold in March, rising 7.6 percent from the year before. East Polk recorded 271 homes sold for a 39.7 percent annual increase. Lake Wales had 26 homes sold in March, down four units from last year. Eight homes were sold in Bartow, versus two the year before.The figures reflect transactions made by Realtor associations in Polk County.In Florida, single-home inventory sank by a third to 5.3 months in March from 8 months a year earlier. The national inventory was nearly 5 months, down 17 percent from March 2012.

[ Kyle Kennedy can be reached at kyle.kennedy@theledger.com or 863-802-7584. Kevin Bouffard can be reached at kevin.bouffard@theledger.com or 863-401-6980. ]